Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
A haul road will be used to transport ore to the mill during project operations. As stated in
chapter 2, the haul road from Section 16 will lead west through section 16 and then travel
south on private lands through section 17 and 20. A haul road from section 10 will lead
east from section 10 along the general orientation of an existing forest system road
located in section 11. The mill site has not yet been selected so the exact haulage route,
after leaving the private lands cannot be assessed, however the selected route will likely
include smaller highways that will contain local traffic and possibly traffic from other
resource development projects in the area. It is expected that there will be minimal local
traffic on these roads; however, interactions with other resource development projects
may increase the risk of traffic collisions and risky behavior of other drivers trying to
maneuver around slower moving traffic.
4. Driver behavior. The behavior of workers behind the wheel can affect traffic safety.
Behaviors of greatest concern include inappropriate or excessive speed, presence of
alcohol, medicinal or recreational drugs, fatigue, and traveling in darkness (WHO, 2004).
RHR has developed a company safety manual that outlines training and sets forth policies
and requirements for safe driving procedures such as onsite speed limits and no tolerance
of drug or alcohol use. This safety manual should meet the appropriate safety regulations
as laid out by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Contractors
should be obliged to follow these safety procedures in order to provide contract work to
the project. Strict enforcement of these behaviors for safe driving will be essential for
minimizing potential impacts on traffic safety.
The impacts to traffic safety from the project could be minimized with the following strategies:
• Police and emergency services personnel in the project area should be consulted on a
regular basis to keep them informed of traffic schedules and enlist their services when
they are needed.
• Once routes for heavy trucks are known, route-specific mitigation may be required.
Project personnel should liaise with local police and emergency services personnel once
routes are known to discuss any further mitigation (e.g., route changes, changes to
signage at intersections, etc.).
• Heavy truck and slow moving work vehicles on main roads should be limited to off-peak
hours to the extent possible.
• All project workers should adhere to RHR’s safety standards, which prohibit drug and
alcohol use, cell phone use, and speeding while driving. Strict enforcement of these
standards is required
The impacts to traffic safety from construction, operation, and decommissioning for the proposed
action are expected to be of minor to moderate magnitude, to have a medium to large geographic
extent, and to be of short- to medium-term duration. There is probable likelihood of these impacts
occurring and the precedence or uniqueness is slight. Therefore, the overall significance of the
impacts to traffic safety during construction, operation, and decommissioning would be adverse
but less than significant.
406 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest